Divas Championship
Michelle McCool was the first WWE Diva to claim the Divas Championship in July 2008 at The Great American Bash. Since then, several Divas won the coveted butterfly, including Maryse and Melina, who each held it twice. Michelle unified the Divas Championship and the Women's Championship at Night of Champions in September 2010 when she defeated Melina with the help of Layla to become the first-ever Unified Divas Champion. History 2008 - 2009: Beginning of the New Division Michelle McCool became the first-ever Divas Champion at The Great American Bash when she defeated Natalya to capture the gold. Maryse shocked Michelle McCool when she defeated McCool to become Divas Champion, with Maria acting as special guest referee. Divas Champion Maryse avoided a title match with the explosive Mickie James for weeks, but at Night of Champions there was nowhere for the French-Canadian Diva to run. When the two sexy, smart and powerful Divas finally faced off, Mickie walked away with the victory and the Divas Championship. On Raw, Jillian Hall upset Mickie James to win her first title and become the new Divas Champion. Just moments after being announced as one of Raw's newest Divas courtesy of a monumental Tri-Brand Divas trade by special guest host Nancy O'Dell, Melina defeated Jillian in the tone-deaf Diva's first title defense to become the new Divas Champion. 2010: Path to Unification After a demanding Divas Championship Tournament featuring many of Raw's smart, sexy and powerful Divas, Maryse claimed the vacated Divas Championship against fellow finalist Gail Kim. The French-Canadian Diva defeated Brie Bella and Eve Torres before making it to the final round with Gail. The two shared an intense rivalry over the course of a few weeks that came to a head, live on Monday Night Raw. On Raw in London, Eve upset then-champion Maryse, catching the French-Canadian Diva off guard and pinning her to become the new Divas Champion. At Fatal 4-Way, Alicia Fox defeated three of Raw's top Divas, Eve, Maryse & Gail Kim, to claim her first Divas Championship in a Fatal 4 Way Match. As per the match rules, The Foxy Floridian did not have to pin then-champion Eve and capitalized on the bedlam, pinning Gail Kim to win the coveted butterfly. At SummerSlam, Melina triumphed over Divas Champion Alicia Fox, recapturing the illustrious title in her hometown of Los Angeles. Michelle McCool made WWE Divas history at Night of Champions, defeating Melina -- with the help of her loyal best friend, Layla -- to unify the Divas and Women's Championships in a Lumberjills Match. An emotional Natalya rejoiced as her childhood dreams came true at Survivor Series when she defeated Team Lay-Cool in 2-on-1 Handicap Match to become the new Divas Champion. 2011: Eve; Brie Bella; Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix After the Anonymous Raw General Manager made the Divas Championship Match at Royal Rumble a Fatal 4-Way, Eve shocked the WWE Universe as a surprise competitor. The beautiful and talented brunette scored her second butterfly title when she pinned Layla. Although “Twin Magic” did not necessarily work as planned in Brie Bella’s Raw collision with Divas Champion Eve, Nikki Bella was nevertheless instrumental in helping the doubly devious Diva capture the butterfly-emblazoned title by distracting the defending titleholder. This victory marked The Bella Twins’ first championship win in WWE. Demonstrating the potency of the WWE Universe on Raw: Power to the People, Kelly Kelly earned a career-changing title match against Brie Bella in which the blonde bombshell captured her first-ever Divas Championship. As voted by the WWE fans on a memorable night, the twice-named Diva celebrated the biggest win of her WWE career with tears of joy in Baltimore's 1st Mariner Arena. The third time was the charm for Beth Phoenix at WWE Hell in a Cell. Thanks to some help from her crafty friend, Natalya, the former three-time Women’s Champion finally defeated Kelly Kelly for her first Divas Championship. With her victory at WWE Hell in a Cell, The Glamazon and Natalya came one step closer to achieving their goal of changing the face of the Divas division by ridding it of its so-called “Cinderellas,” such as Kelly Kelly, and leading the charge of a “pin-up strong” group of Divas. 2012: Beth's injury; Layla's return; Eve's new character The stars aligned for Nikki Bella on Raw SuperShow in Detroit when her Divas Championship Match against Beth Phoenix was turned into a Lumberjill Match to prevent the Bellas from cheating to win the coveted prize. It was Eve, the Executive Administrator to Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Raw and SmackDown General Manager John Laurinaitis, who suggested the change, but it was Nikki who reaped the benefits after Beth injured her ankle midway through the title defense. Nikki was able to capitalize on the injury and pin the hobbled Glamazon to hoist the butterfly championship for the first time. Nikki Bella thought she was in for an easy night at Extreme Rules after her original opponent, Beth Phoenix, was deemed medically unable to compete. However, Eve, executive administrator for GM John Laurinaitis, informed the champion that she would be facing a mystery opponent. That turned out to be Layla, returning after a year-long absence due to a knee injury. The Bellas' attempt to use Twin Magic behind the official's back blew up in their face, as Layla hit Brie with the Layout neckbreaker to claim the Divas Championship. At Night of Champions, Eve replaced Kaitlyn — injured earlier in the evening — in the Divas Championship Match against Layla. Following a hard-fought contest, Eve secured the victory, netting her third Divas Title. 2013 - 2014: AJ Lee vs. Kaitlyn, Paige, & The Bella Twins With a hard-hitting spear, Kaitlyn finally dethroned Eve to capture the Divas Championship in her hometown of Houston, on the 20th anniversary of Raw. After successfully concluding a sinister plot against her former friend just six days prior, AJ Lee defeated Kaitlyn to win the Divas Championship before a capacity crowd during WWE Payback. AJ capitalized on a rare mental lapse by Kaitlyn that allowed the challenger to apply her Black Widow submission maneuver for the title-clinching victory. Making her WWE debut, NXT Women's Champion Paige shocked the WWE Universe and dropped the longest-reinging Divas Champion ever, AJ Lee, with the “Paige-Turner.” Appearing in a WWE ring for the first time since losing her Divas Title to Paige the night after WrestleMania 30, AJ Lee returned to Raw on June 30, 2014, to challenge The Diva of Tomorrow for the coveted prize. In an impromptu bout, AJ Lee pinned Paige to become a two-time Divas Champion. Paige reversed the Black Widow, hitting a monster DDT to reclaim the Divas Championship from AJ Lee for the second time on her 22nd birthday! AJ Lee captured her third Divas Championship at Night of Champions 2014 in a Triple Threat Match against reigning champion Paige and Nikki Bella. After knocking Nikki out of the ring, AJ locked her “frenemy” Paige in the Black Widow to reclaim the title. The victory tied AJ with Eve for the most Divas Championship reigns. With only two days remaining in her contract to be her twin sister’s personal assistant, Brie Bella helped Nikki win the Divas Championship at Survivor Series by planting a kiss on defending titleholder AJ Lee just as the contest began. Nikki followed with a Rack Attack, a cover and a three-count to win the title. A post-match smile by Brie left the matter unclear regarding whether Nikki had demanded the assistance, or if Brie’s actions were on her own volition. 2015 - 2016: The Women's Revolution & Retirement At Night of Champions 2015, Charlotte ended the record-shattering 301-day title reign of Nikki Bella by making "Fearless Nikki" tap out to the Figure-Eight Leglock. At WrestleMania 32, the title was formally retired by Lita in place of the new WWE Women's Championship. List of Divas Champions Category:WWE Championships